Prior sled designs allowed the rider little, if any, control over the sled's direction of travel or the speed at which the sled traveled. Although sleds have taken many forms, most are basically of one piece construction upon which the user rides. Control of the sled depends upon a shift in the rider's body weight or a bend in the runners to produce a steering effect. When the sled comes to a stop at the bottom of a slope, the rider has to get off the sled and walk back up the slope, dragging the sled by means of a rope or the like. If the rider is thrown, knocked off, or falls off the sled, the sled could travel down the slope unattended possibly causing damage to property, injury to bystanders and damage to the sled.
Examples of prior sled devices are illustrated in the E. A. Carlin U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,801 and the T. E. Davis U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,878. Both prior art patents describe roll-up flexible toboggans on which the rider sits or lays. The rider holds onto these sleds or toboggans by means of a rope or handholds. The sleds or toboggans provide no means for controlling direction or stopping. The rider of these sleds is at the mercy of the grade and contour of the slope and must "hang on" or "let go" for dear life.
Also worthy of mention is the "Snow Device" illustrated in U.S. Pat. 3,689,092 issued to Gary F. Lake. Although the Lake device may appear at first glance to have a few similar features of my invention, it is basically very different and has many disadvantages when compared to my body sled. The ski-like members of the Lake patent that attach to the rider's legs and feet are the base for the main portion of the rider's body weight. Such ski-like members are not fastened to each other. This results in instability and makes the Lake invention incapable of providing a controllable, stable base for the rider's body weight when being used over rough and uneven surfaces. Such instability promotes frequent rider upsets that could lead to serious injury to the rider and damage to the equipment.
By using hand-held ski-like members in conjunction with the leg ski-like members, the Lake invention provides the rider with a four point stance. The four point stance is not stable because the position of the rider's body is a kneeling position that places a large portion of the rider's weight above his lower legs. This apportionment of rider weight results in a high center of gravity and an unstable balance. The four points of the stance are held by the rider's limbs away from the rider's torso; the ski-like members are not connected to each other, rather they are independent in motion. The four independent points of the stance, when combined with the high center of gravity, exacerbates the instability problem. The Lake device also lacks a positive steering quality due to the flat ski surface of its hand-held ski-like members.
In contrast, my invention provides a guiding edge for cutting into the snow to affect control. The stance of the Lake sled does not apportion sufficient body weight to the hand-held ski-like members for steering control. My invention does provide correct body weight distribution to achieve a controlled and accurate turning or steering quality.
In use, the Lake ski-like members tend to skim over the surface of the snow in one direction no matter what direction the rider turns them, rather than cutting into the snow and making the sled turn (as would the guiding edge of my invention). To effect a turn with the Lake device, the rider must shift his weight from the members attached to his legs to the hand-held ski-like members. This shift reduces tracking necessary to complete the turn.
Thus, the difficulty of maintaining balance, steering, braking and the high center of gravity lessen the usefulness of the Lake sled.
It is an object of my invention to provide a sled worn on the rider's body that provides a safe, comfortable sledding position, and that further provides effective speed and direction control.
Various other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description, which, when taken with the accompanying drawings, describe a preferred form of my invention. It is to be noted, however, that the following description and drawings are given merely to set forth the preferred form of my invention and that alterations may be made within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, only the claims are to be taken as specific definitions of what I claim to be my invention.